Federal Legislation

Legislation

  • Congress Seizes on ‘Parents Rights’ Agenda to Nationalize Censorship in Public Schools | PEN America
    • Two bills, both misleadingly titled, HR 2616, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, and HR 7661, the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, advanced earlier this spring. Together, they would use federal education funding to pressure schools to restrict materials, student support, and instruction related to gender identity. Schools that fail to comply risk losing those funds. Framed as parental protections, the bills use that leverage to shape what schools teach, what materials students can access, and how educators support vulnerable students. Their proponents have explicitly focused on gender- and sexuality-themed materials, continuing a pattern of policies that marginalize LGBTQ+ students while creating a framework for broader educational censorship. 
    • In a 2025 report, PEN America highlighted research from the Florida Freedom to Read Project that found that where parents were given genuine individual choice over their own children’s library access, the overwhelming majority chose access over restriction. The restrictions imposed through “parental-rights” legislation do not reflect what most parents want for their own children. The bills before Congress seek to nationalize this agenda.


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